What They Call Growing Up
by Swift178
Summary: Not even the Sonic gang can remain children forever. What happens when they settle down?
1. Worries

**Disclaimer:** CJ the Cheetah, Jessie the Cat and the children belong to me. Everyone else belongs to SEGA, Sonic Project, DiC or whoever created them.

_Yes, this is a little like Birth of the Heroes, but also completely different as well. I'm probably one of the few people that didn't think that fic was good; I made the characters OOC and lovey-dovey, and everything was perfect. Life isn't like that, which is what this fic will suggest. There will be a bit of everything, including the action which makes Sonic what he is, pregnancy, divorce, affairs… kinda like a soap opera with action as well._

_In any case, it starts with Sonic/Sally for our main hedgehog Sonic, which I do support as well as Sonic/Amy and other Sonic-related pairings. Other pairings will crop up as the fic goes on, such as Sonic/Blaze and Sonic/Amy. Other pairings will appear too. _

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**What They Call Growing Up**

Days past in the midst of summer, you'd never expect things to seem so dull and dreary. A summer's day you'd normally associate with sunshine, seagulls, and intensifying heat, yet today was damp, boring, and definitely chilly, so much that Mobian children scuttling by would huddle closer together just to radiate their warmth off of each other. Nobody had any theories on this downward spiral in weather, but they merely shrugged their shoulders and got on with it, saying it would all be better tomorrow.

Amongst the dreary settings lay a village, out of place compared to the towns and huge country hills that outshined it. The roofs of the buildings were topped with straw and a thin layer of wood beneath it.

Inside one of the little huts lay a blue hedgehog, curled up in his bed, frowning to himself. Due to the cold weather he had been advised to remain inside by Sally, and he saw no reason to argue with her, despite the fact that remaining inside was one of his least favourite activities. He would have given anything at that point to just run off into the wind, become one with it.

He had recently turned twenty-three, and a big turn out happened which led to Sonic being more cheerful than he had done in weeks. Everyone was there, Knuckles with his girlfriend Julie-Su, Tails looking particularly cheerful, even Antoine and Bunnie, after much persuasion on Bunnie's part. Amy Rose had given him continuous smiles, her bright eyes eying him like grilled steak, making the blue hedgehog somewhat nervous. Luckily, Sally glided over and rested herself there with him, her hand on his.

The night had ended well, everyone had a good time. Tails had flown off to Amy's hut with her, and Sonic could recall the pink hedgehog looking somewhat disappointed. He himself had headed off to his own hut, Sally right beside him. They spent that night treasuring the time they had together, before Sonic was to be sent away on an important mission.

They treasured it a little too much. The two youngsters woke up next to each other, only a blanket covering their bare bodies. Sonic had immediately snuck into the bathroom and remained there for about an hour until Sally awoke, entering the bathroom and throwing confused looks at Sonic's behaviour.

"What's the matter Sonic?" she had asked him, her eyebrow raised. She clearly had no problems in accepting the previous night's events and treasured whatever time she had spent with him. She had gazed upon Sonic's slouching, almost petrified position for ten whole minutes before sidling off to make breakfast as if nothing had happened.

Sonic rolled over in his bed, his hand resting beneath the pillow and an almost depressed sigh escaped his lips. That night with Sally had meant so much to him, yet something in his heart was telling him it shouldn't be that way. A horrible shiver wriggled its way down his back, as his mind began to see various horrific scenarios, mainly involving Sally's waist expanding and several children crawling around wailing and crying. Sonic curled up into a tighter ball.

He had been worried ever since he and Sally had their night of passion that something might happen to change his and her life, and possibly the life of all of Knothole. He certainly didn't want Sally to get pregnant with his child; he felt that he was too young to have children. That and the responsibility would kill him.

"Sonic?" a young teenage male called. Sonic tried to uncurl himself, to act as if he were normal and that he didn't fear Sally getting pregnant at all but his body wouldn't let him. It felt like it was stuck in that position by super-glue, "What's the matter?"

Sonic could tell that whoever was speaking was right there in the room with him and Sonic curled up tighter instead of relaxing himself. He felt a soft hand on his shoulder, causing Sonic to look at the person's face instead of at his armpits. It was Tails.

"What's wrong?" Tails asked again, pursuing his interest and concern for his best friend. Sonic tried to speak but no words came out, possibly due to the fact that he didn't know what to say.

Finally, after a great deal of thought, Sonic decided on the word to say, "Nothing."

Tails, as suspected, didn't buy it, not for a second, "I've never seen you like this before, Sonic. Not in all the years that I've known you. Come on, don't you trust me?"

A strange feeling gripped his heart like a vice at those very words. He didn't know why; one would normally associate it with guilt. Sonic had felt guilt before but this guilt almost left him breathless. Tails had been his loyal friend and companion since they were mere children, growing into feisty teenagers looking for adventure. Surely he'd be able to trust him?

Sonic sighed, his mind made up, "I don't know Tails. I'm just worried about Sal that's all."

Tails raised his eyebrow, "Why would you be worried about Aunt Sally?"

The blue hedgehog didn't know how to explain this issue to his young friend. In truth, there was nothing to explain, but Tails was only sixteen, and even though he was of legal age to know about things such as… that… Sonic didn't feel comfortable conversing about it with anyone. So he waved his hand in the air carelessly, "You wouldn't understand…"

"Try me," Tails tried to pry Sonic out of his curled position, and in the end, Sonic was able to relax a little.

"Me and Sal… after my birthday party, we went to my hut and had a chat, you know, because of that mission I was sent on and stuff. And… I didn't _mean _for it to happen, it just did and now I'm worried in case Sal gets pregnant and -"

"Whoa!" Tails raised his right hand, trying to halt Sonic in his stammering, and it succeeded as Sonic trailed off his speech, "I think I know what you're talking about… you and Aunt Sally did 'it' didn't you?"

Sonic blinked at Tails, almost wondering how he could have guessed in such a short space of time. Yet again, he remembered that he had mentioned his worries that Sally might get pregnant, and realized that Tails would have divulged the information from that. He sighed and gazed at his sneakers, almost wishing that he could curl up into that ball again and lay there all afternoon wallowing in self-pity and fear.

"Sonic, don't worry about it," Tails began, thinking of the right words to say while Sonic sat there miserably, "Aunt Sally won't get pregnant."

Sonic blinked, "Come again?"

"She won't get pregnant," Tails sighed impatiently, yet keeping a kind expression on his face just to be sure that Sonic wasn't discomforted.

Sonic snorted despondently, "How can you tell? Are you psychic or something?"

Tails laughed at this. He questioned himself as to why Sonic didn't realize that Sally could never get pregnant even if they did it a million times, "Sonic, it's almost _impossible _for two different species to breed! If you had done it with Amy for example, then we'd worry. But Aunt Sally and you are completely different species; therefore you've nothing to worry about."

It took a while for that scrap of information to get through Sonic's thought-fogged brain, but when it did, the brightening expression on the blue hedgehog's face was definitely rewarding, "So I don't have to worry about being surrounded by screaming brats?"

Tails laughed again at that, seeing Sonic's hatred of responsibility shine through his positive features, "No chance, unless of course, you decide to hook up with Amy or some other young gorgeous female hedgehog…"

"No chance mate," Sonic grinned, "Sal's the one for me."

Sonic cheered up gradually as the day came to a close, leaving his hut to chat with several friends and crack jokes about Robotnik. Everything went along as usual.

He found Sally alone at the lake, a soft smile on her face. Sonic finally found the strength to approach her after an inward battle featuring some rather strange daydreams. He settled beside her, saying nothing at first, not wanting to spoil the serene moment that was being spread, "Cheered up, I take it?"

Sonic nodded dumbly, saying nothing at all to Sally's question, but the young woman had seen everything in his eyes. Eventually, she thought she could ask again, "So… what was the matter anyway?"

Sonic sighed, feeling his face turning a deep tomato red that he tried to ignore, but couldn't as his facial features burned hotter than he had ever felt them do so before, "You remember when we… you know?"

Sally nodded, listening carefully to what Sonic had to say. The blue hedgehog took a deep breath and continued, "I got worried. We didn't even plan it nor did we use any form of protection. I kinda got worried that you might… you know…"

Sally raised her eyebrow, "I don't know though. Do you want to tell me?"

"I was worried that you might get pregnant…" Sonic trailed off.

Sally did not say nor do anything for the first few seconds after those words were said. Her immediate reaction was to laugh it off as a foul joke, but looking at Sonic's embarrassed features, she realized he really looked concerned. Sally sighed, thinking of the appropriate thing to say.

Eventually, Sally spoke, "That cannot happen even if we wished for it to be Sonic. We're two completely different species."

"I wouldn't wish for it anyway…" Sonic muttered under his breath.

"What?" Sally asked, vaguely hearing Sonic mumble something, but didn't quite catch it.

Sonic looked up at her, blushing furiously and shrugged, "Forget about it, I was just being stupid."

"It's natural for men to feel worried, especially if they're like you and can't stand a little extra responsibility," Sally teased, allowing one of her hands to stray behind his head and stroke his already long quills. Sonic didn't even seem to take offence at the comment, he just sighed.

"Sal… I just think I'm too young to have children, I just want to live at the moment you know?" Sonic explained quickly, feeling his face burn hotter than before at the feeling of Sally softly rubbing his quills.

"I know," Sally smiled, allowing her fingers to play with Sonic's quills, "I feel pretty much the same, though I wouldn't mind having children someday."

"Just not now and not from me," Sonic smirked, "You'll have no hope of getting kids from me, even if we could."

"Yeah, but we can have _other _things…" Sally also wore a smirk now, leaning in to rest against Sonic's chest.

Sonic had a vague idea of what Sally was hinting at, "Oh, like what?"

Sally's smirk grew wider as she leaned in, whispering into Sonic's ear. Sonic's smirk also grew wider as he heard of what Sally had in mind, and he nodded when she finished, "Yeah, we do have those things… anytime Sal, anytime…"

Sally allowed the hand that wasn't stroking Sonic's quills to stroke his furry peach chest, "How about right now?"

"I did say anytime."

At those words, Sonic scooped Sally off her feet, and headed off to his hut, not knowing of the troubles of adulthood that he was yet to go through. As he and Sally rested together that night, Sonic didn't know that an adventure quite unlike the ones he had with Robotnik was about to begin.


	2. Tickles and Vixens

**Disclaimer:** _CJ the Cheetah, Jessie the Cat and the children belong to me. Everyone else belongs to SEGA, Sonic Project, DiC or whoever created them._

**Summary: **_Not even the Sonic gang can remain children forever. What happens when they settle down? Contains characters from all of the universes. Bears no reference to War of Hearts or Birth of the Heroes. There is a lot of romance, adventure, divorce, pregnancy etc._

_For those who want them to break up and for Sonic to run off with Amy; Sally and Sonic **won't** stay together, but they **won't** be breaking up for a while yet. And Sonic definitely won't be getting with anybody for a long while after that either. I'm trying to develop the relationships better than what I do in other fics I've done. I still love Sonamy more than any of the other pairings but I do like to write different couples once in a while._

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**What They Call Growing Up**

Another day awakened as the sun glided over Knothole Village. Sonic could definitely feel the heat rising under his bed covers. He was completely unsure whether or not the heat passed through the light of the sun, or radiated from the warm body sleeping next to him. All Sonic knew that finally summer was here. A content smile on his lips, Sonic leaned over and wrapped his arms around Sally; resting his head on her slender arm, nuzzling it gently.

There had been no worries, no concerns this time. Many would say they were taking a big risk if Sally was a hedgehog like Sonic. But as she wasn't, nobody really bothered. As far as they were concerned, the chances of Sally getting pregnant by Sonic were zero and frankly, Sonic couldn't be happier about that. They could do it a million times without the worries that many same species couples would have to undergo; the risk of getting pregnant. They needed no protection, they would never conceive anyway.

The hedgehog smiled softly, running his thumb over Sally's soft, sweet-smelling fur, allowing his head to now rest against hers. He could feel Sally gently moving beneath him, mumbling something. Sonic smiled in a cheeky way, before gently moving his hands to her belly and wiggling them in a tickling motion.

A soft squeal was what followed, as Sally began to writhe beneath Sonic in attempt to free herself. Sonic wouldn't let up easily though, and moved his hands to her armpits. Sally shrieked with laughter as Sonic continued to force giggles and shrieks out of her. A smirk crossed the blue hedgehog's face; he knew just how ticklish Sally was.

What Sonic forgot in his moment of glory was that Sally also knew how ticklish he was.

Fingers began attacking the sides of his stomach and the blue hedgehog doubled over, wheezing and laughing loudly. Without a doubt, Sally now had the upper hand. She crawled onto Sonic's stomach and sat there, continuing to wiggle her fingers at his sides. Every time Sonic tried to crawl away from her assault, she would attack his underarms, causing a new burst of giggles to erupt from the blue hedgehog. This went on for a little while, as Sonic tried to regain whatever sanity he had left; just enough to tell him that the best chances of getting away was to tickle her back again. That he did, and Sally broke down again in giggles. Sensing that she was giving in, Sonic jumped to his feet when she was almost distracted and sped for the bathroom, Sally hot on his heels.

Sonic tried to shut the bathroom door to escape into sanity again, but his girlfriend continued to push against the door, one of those evil smirks on her face, "Oh no you don't Sonic! I'll teach you to wake me up!"

"You were awake already!" the blue hedgehog yelped, finding his better half pushing against the door with such determination, he vaguely wondered if Sally had been working out at all. He knew that he couldn't shut the door while the two of them were in this awkward position, so they were left playing of tug of war with it.

It didn't take long for Sally to catch Sonic off guard, yank open the door and lunge at Sonic, tickling him for all it was worth. The blue hedgehog didn't even have a chance at getting away; Sally had tackled him to the floor in no time. He shrieked with laughter, trying to swat her hands away pathetically, "C'mon Sal, stop it!"

Sally raised her eyebrow, looking to see if Sonic had suffered enough. The blue hedgehog pouted a little, poking out his bottom lip; hopefully that would help him escape to sanity. Finally, Sally got off of Sonic's stomach and sighed, "I was tired anyway. Don't think it's over…"

"I won't…" Sonic chuckled, "And I promise I won't wake you up like that again, even though you were already awake to begin with."

Sally forged a hurt look, "I wasn't awake; I really was asleep."

"Yeah right, you were moving!" Sonic accused, pointing a shaky finger at his lover.

"_Everyone _moves in their sleep sometimes Sonic, it's a fact," Sally sighed in exasperation, "Don't tell me you've never moved around in your sleep."

Sonic blushed, remembering on more than one occasion, he had actually got out of bed while in a deep sleep, and ran around the house. As a child, he never knew why he awoke to find his hut in more of a mess than it was the day before. It was later on that he found that he ran in his sleep, most likely due to things worrying or bothering him. He ran his hands through his quills nervously.

Sally only smirked in triumph, "Told you so."

"Yeah well, I only do it when something's bothering me!" Sonic protested, "It's not like I do it _every _night! I didn't move last night did I?"

"Yes you did actually," Sally said slowly, her smirk becoming one of those true beautiful smiles she always wore.

Sonic looked at her in a completely clueless way, "What?"

"Nothing," Sally mumbled, "Just thinking about last night."

"Ooh…" Sonic murmured, remembering the events of the previous night clearly. It led him to smirk widely, approach Sally with a confident stride, and wrap his arms around her thin waist, "I was good wasn't I?"

Sally's lips curved upwards. She couldn't deny it, Sonic was good. She allowed her fingers to glide through Sonic's soft fur, whether it was the peach on his stomach or the royal blue in other places, it didn't bother her. She rested her head on his chest and smiled, "Get over yourself…"

"C'mon, you can't deny it!" Sonic teased, rocking his girlfriend's body against his slightly. He felt a ticklish sensation on his chest as Sally chuckled there, "I guess I can't."

The two remained in that position for a while, unwilling to break apart. Sonic simply ran his hands up and down Sally's back whereas she stroked his chest and mumbled sweet nothings. The time passed far too quickly for their liking, though to Sonic it felt like several sunlit days instead of two cold minutes.

"We smell bad," the blue hedgehog teased when he eventually got the motivation to pull away. Sally laughed, patting her lover on the shoulder, nodding in agreement. The two of them did not smell particularly pleasant.

"Shower?" Sally raised her eyebrow at Sonic's request and nodded.

**XXX**

Tails settled onto his table, rubbing his head fur. Sonic should have been here fifteen minutes ago and the fox was fast losing his patience with his 'older brother'. He caught sight of Rotor walking by covered in black oil, which emitted a rather unpleasant stench. Antoine and Bunnie were settled at a table nearby, whispering to each other frantically, about what, Tails never bothered to find out. His gaze circled the room at least three times before they paused on something.

Sitting in the corner, deeply engrossed in a book, sat a tall red vixen with brown hair, hanging gently around her head, a yellow bow settled nicely among her bangs, sapphire eyes scanning the page she was reading at a quick rate.

Tails never really understood why, but he seemed to like looking at that vixen. She seemed to hold an air of intelligence, yet hot-headedness around her. Truth be told, Tails had never spoken to her, not once, though he wanted to, many times, but he could never quite get up the courage. He recalled her speaking with Sally a few times but nothing more. It was actually quite frustrating for him.

"Tails! Hey _TAILS!_"

The young fox whipped around upon hearing his name being called and groaned as a shimmering pink bouncy female hedgehog skipped into view. The young fox wanted to smack his head on the table in further frustration when she joined him at his table, a young smile on her pretty youthful face. Tails knew why she was there before she even said anything.

"Have you seen Sonic?" she asked in an urgent tone. With any other person, that tone of voice would suggest there was an emergency, but Tails knew better that when it came to Amy Rose, she found it an emergency if she didn't see Sonic at least every day a week, even if only for a few seconds. She was now twenty years of age and regardless of everything that has happened in that time, still was a child at heart and even now still got excited whenever Sonic simply walked into the room.

"N-Not recently," Tails lied, more than anything wanting to sink into the floor at the moment. Sonic would be there any second now, and Tails wanted to talk to him privately, now more than ever.

"Well… can I stay here with you?" Amy asked curiously, pulling her best puppy-dog expression, "I have no one else to hang around with…"

"But I…" Tails began, "I'm meeting with… err… with someone."

"I won't bother you, I promise!" Amy told him eagerly, her hands clasped together tightly. She gave Tails a look of deepest pleading, "Please…?"

'_Amy's looks are evil…' _Tails found himself thinking. Of all the things she could have done, she had to give him the puppy-dog expression. Nearly everybody found that look irresistible, and Tails wasn't the type to push her away, or anyone for that matter. He eventually sighed to himself and nodded, "Fine…"

"Thanks!" Amy squealed, looking very tempted to jump on Tails and hug him to death but thought better of it. She merely sat there in shocking silence watching the door to the left of where they were sitting where Sonic usually entered, which Tails didn't expect at all. Amy was very outgoing, and usually preferred to gossip, even if it meant possibly missing Sonic pass by, and to hear her say nothing was strange. It certainly sent chills down Tails' spine.

Nevertheless, Tails began to look at the vixen in the corner again, nearly halfway through her book. He lowered his eyelids slightly, almost entranced. She certainly was a pretty vixen, with sapphire eyes as deep a blue as the sea. The vixen tilted her head upwards, leading Tails to jump as she laid eyes on him, gave him a little smile and waved. Deciding it best to be polite, Tails waved back with an extremely weak smile.

"Who are you waving at?" Amy asked curiously, breaking the awkward silence between them. Tails said nothing, but merely blushed in embarrassment. The pink hedgehog followed where Tails was looking and threw a hand to her mouth, "Fiona Fox?"

Tails snapped out of his trance-like state and gawked at Amy, "You _know_ her?"

"Not personally," Amy began, taking a deep breath proudly, as if the chance to gossip had been what she was waiting for, "But I heard she's new in the Brain Trust subdivision _and_ she's going to be a member of the regular combat team."

Tails gulped a little, he himself was a member of Brain Trust. Surely that meant he would have to talk to her… he tried to swallow his nerves, but they wouldn't go down for some unknown reason.

"I don't like her that much," Amy said simply, folding her arms and throwing the vixen a glare, which she thankfully did not see.

Tails looked at Amy in confusion, "Why not?"

Amy leant closer to him, and whispered, "I heard she doesn't think much of Sonic. I don't know why, but I'd like to know what she's got against the coolest guy in the world!"

Tails sighed at Amy; her behaviour was to be expected. Truthfully, Tails thought she might not have liked Fiona Fox because Amy never seemed to like any girl that was around Sonic's age for fear that Sonic would like them over her. Tails eventually reasoned that that was a stupid thing to think; Amy did have some level of respect for Sally, and she knew Sonic was dating her.

"Hi Tails!" called out a voice on the other end of the room. Tails turned to see Sonic jogging up to Tails, his fur glimmering brightly and cleanly. Amy had immediately jumped to her feet and ran over to him, tackling him to the ground with a loud cry of his name, and began nuzzling him all over his face.

"Amy?" Sonic asked curiously, "What are you doing?"

"It's good to see you, Sonic…" she mumbled, nuzzling his cheek in a way that was only meant for Sally as far as the blue hedgehog was concerned. Sonic threw Tails an awkward glance, one that clearly told Tails to get rid of Amy. The fox jumped to his feet and tapped his pink hedgehog friend on the shoulder.

"Amy, Sonic and I need to talk about something… in private… do you mind… leaving us alone for a bit?" Tails mumbled, expecting Amy to turn around suddenly and bop him with her hammer while yelling at him not to tell her what to do. Shockingly enough, she complied, even extending her arm to help Sonic get to his feet, before giggling uncontrollably in a somewhat air-headed way, "I'll see you later, sweetie…"

Sonic and Tails merely stared after her as she scuttled off out of the door, probably to her own hut. Finally, after making sure that Amy wouldn't bother them, they sat down, "Nice lie, buddy, I don't know _what _has gotten into her lately…"

"I say she's as normal as she's ever been…" Tails mumbled, trying to get off the topic of Amy Rose, "Who's Fiona Fox?"

Sonic followed Tails' gaze to the young vixen in the corner, buried deeply into that book. He turned to look back at Tails and winked at him, "Oh, I see what this is all about…"

"What?" Tails asked in a confused tone.

"You _like _her, don't you?" Sonic asked in a sly tone, lowering his eyelids while nudging Tails in the arm. Tails cast Sonic a look of offence.

"Sonic, I don't even know who she _is_!" he told his friend firmly, his arms folded across his chest, "Amy said she's new in Brain Trust and the combat team, is that true?"

Sonic nodded, picking up a pineapple from the table and trying to balance it on one finger, "Yep, she's been transferred. I don't know where from, but she's been transferred from there to here. Something about having loads of fights with the leader over there. She seems to get along with Sal okay so she might be here to stay."

"But she doesn't get on that great with you, does she Sonic?" Tails asked, nudging Sonic back with his own sharp elbows. Sonic looked at Tails, clearly lost.

"Where did you hear that?" Sonic asked, but then placed a hand on his forehead, "Wait, don't answer… it was Amy right?"

Tails nodded. Sonic sighed and rested his head on one of his hands, the other hand placing the pineapple back to where he got it from, "Knows a lot, doesn't she? I wonder where she gets half the information from."

Tails blinked at Sonic, "So what's the deal? Why doesn't she like you?"

Sonic shrugged, "We knew each other as kids, before my parents got roboticized that is. We were good friends back then, but something happened and… we sort of stopped being friends, you know?"

"What happened?" Tails asked. There was no law against not asking.

Sonic smiled, "I'll leave that for another day, little bro. For now, I gotta get going. Sal wants me to do some things for her, and it's quite important."

Tails nodded dumbly, his eyes settled on the vixen again, "See ya Sonic…"

Tails barely heard Sonic say goodbye or whatever he was supposed to have said. All he noted at that moment was that vixen, settled there. She looked up again and smiled. Tails smiled back, feeling more confident than before.

"Fiona Fox, eh? Heh, might as well give it a try…"


	3. Changes

**Disclaimer:** _CJ the Cheetah, Jessie the Cat and the children belong to me. Everyone else belongs to SEGA, Sonic Project, DiC or whoever created them._

**Summary: **_Not even the Sonic gang can remain children forever. What happens when they settle down? Contains characters from all of the universes. Bears no reference to War of Hearts or Birth of the Heroes. There is a lot of romance, adventure, divorce, pregnancy etc._

_I don't forgive flamers unless they apologize, because they don't deserve to be forgiven unless they know they're wrong. This one who a while ago insulted my appearance because another author on this site that this person liked disagreed with my opinion thought that flaming me was the right thing to do. He or she does not deserve forgiveness in my opinion, because what he or she said hurt my feelings. People need to understand that I do have them. Flamers are sick and immature people who seriously need to grow up. I grew up. I moved on from that. All I ask is that people stop moaning about things that I used to do, because it's in the past, and this is the present. I know what I did back then was wrong. People don't need to rub it in my face every five minutes. Most people have been in the stage of immaturely insulting another themselves, not just myself. _

This may **not** follow what happened in Archie. I don't really read Archie at all, I just look at scans. Sorry if Julie-Su is out of character.Since this is an AU though, it shouldn't really matter too much.

**What They Call Growing Up**

She could still remember the hunger vaguely tearing at her stomach, chewing on her insides, leading her to go out of her mind. If she hadn't had used her initiative, she'd probably have remained trapped in that cell, rotting away, possibly even laying dead by now. Even her fur had smelt of rotten eggs at that time.

She remembered having to use her own hands to dig her way out of imprisonment. She still bore the scars, from the palm of her hand to the tips of her fingers. She remembered having sharp contact with tree branches and often broken pieces of metal, possibly courtesy of Robotnik.

When she eventually broke the surface outside the prison, she travelled north, regardless of how weak her legs felt, regardless of the starvation. Though when she had needed help, it had arrived in the young form of a female purple weasel, dressed in brown. She helped her to the next village, even going as far as to meet an old friend along the way. Once there, she had fully decided to become a Freedom Fighter. She loved her own freedom and had refused to have it taken away from her by one man, no matter how evil or powerful he was. She knew then and there that she had to stop him, to prevent the same thing that had happened to her from happening to someone else.

She had been nearly eleven years old when that had happened. Eleven seemed pretty young for a Freedom Fighter, yet Mercia employed Freedom Fighters aged ten or over. There was only one the leader refused to employ, and when the going got tough, he sent that person away to safety.

She didn't know quite how she had got here or why. The leader of the Freedom Fighters in Mercia had got on her nerves, she knew that much. To her, he was just a complex person to work out, and seemed to take all the hard routes to success when there were perfectly straightforward ones. His attitude had cost nearly all his Freedom Fighters their lives. Some were sent to the roboticizer, others were merely shot on the spot by the High Sheriff, one of Robotnik's under bosses. It was then that she made the decision to flee and work with a safer leader.

Sally Acorn, to her, was as safe as they came.

"Ah, Fiona, just the person I wanted to see."

She raised her eyes from her book, breaking away from her harsh thoughts, and paid the princess her full attention, "Yes, princess?"

Sally Acorn chuckled lightly, "Oh please, call me Sally. Everyone else does."

The teenage vixen nodded in agreement to Sally's request, allowing the princess to continue, "Today's the day we introduce you to the rest of Brain Trust, seeing as there is a meeting today, I think the time would be appropriate for you to meet the rest of the members."

Once again, the vixen nodded in agreement. A part of her almost burst with excitement about it, yet another part of her felt a little anxious, wondering whether or not they would accept her. Not that she really cared that much, but she didn't want to alienate herself from everyone before she had even started.

"Shall we go then?"

Once again nodding, she followed the princess out of the room towards a nearby hut.

**XXX**

Narrowing his eyes, Knuckles the Echidna folded his arms. This wasn't good at all. He had been tracing Robotnik's movements intently from Angel Island on top of guarding the important emeralds which would one day predict the fate of planet Mobius. There were eight in all, seven of which were small, and each glowed a different colour. The eighth one stood taller than the rest of them, watching over the smaller ones.

"He's up to no good," the ruby red echidna grumbled to himself, his arms folded, "I just know it."

"Will you relax?" jibed a somewhat sarcastic female voice from behind him, "We can handle whatever the rotten egg dishes out. We have bigger problems to worry about."

Knuckles threw the owner of the voice, a deep pink echidna with tough violet eyes, a dirty glare, "Like what exactly?"

"Your brother," the female smart-aleck replied in a dark tone, "He's getting completely out of hand again."

Knuckles shrugged in an attitude which clearly suggested that he couldn't care less about the attitude of his younger half-brother, who was born to his mother and stepfather Wynmacher a year before, "As long as Kneecaps isn't bothering me, I don't give a damn."

"Well how can he bother you if you're stuck up here all day?" Julie-Su argued, a brief smirk crossing her face, "I've a funny feeling that guarding those emeralds is the perfect excuse for you to get away from him."

"It's a serious duty," the male echidna said firmly, "My personal life has no say in it whatsoever. One day these emeralds will decide the fate of our planet and until that day comes, I must protect them at all costs."

Julie-Su sighed in exasperation, "You are too serious sometimes. You need to learn how to lighten up a little."

Knuckles said nothing to that statement, though he knew she was perfectly correct. He knew he had the tendency to remain firm and stiff like a mountain standing tall, forever taking things seriously and rejecting any form of fun that could possibly threaten his duty to protect the emeralds. He was almost the opposite of Sonic, who could never sit still for even a second without whining about how bored he was and who never seemed to take things seriously. It was almost fact that Knuckles found himself fairly smug about his differences to his blue rival, yet there was always a small longing within him that he taught himself not to listen to. The longing to be as free as Sonic was…

It seemed that Sonic had everything a guy could possibly want; a carefree life where he never felt worries no matter how bad the situation appeared, the beautiful Princess Sally on his arm, and no duties to tie him down. It all sent the red echidna into frustration sometimes. He knew he could never have what Sonic had, even though it never stopped him wishing. He had felt freedom as a child when his biological father guarded the emeralds, and the feeling still flowed through Knuckles' veins, aching to be felt again.

Then there was Sally Acorn. She wasn't a patch on Julie-Su; her personality was nowhere near as exciting, and she would probably never have had the effect on him that Julie-Su had placed. But he still remembered the times before his father was killed, back in the days he was free to have whatever fun he desired… he recalled visiting the princess often as a child. He generally had a lot of fun playing games and chatting with her enthusiastically once he had come out of his shell. Adding to that, she would probably be the only person to understand the feeling of being chained down by a duty. She _was _the princess, after all.

"Knuckles?"

The male broke out of his thoughts abruptly, turning to throw a short glare at Julie-Su, who merely pointed towards the alarm.

"An intruder?" Knuckles questioned to himself, his eyes narrowed. Indeed, the silent alarm had been set off; normally it only happened in the case of intruders. He had asked Tails to set it up after the first time he met Robotnik, after he had tricked him, after he had humiliated him…

"Seems so," his girlfriend shrugged, another smirk crossing her face, "Want me to deal with it?"

Knuckles shrugged. He could always do what he had done last time; steal away himself to confront the intruder, therefore placing the risk of the emeralds being stolen. He shook his head suddenly; no. He had learnt his lesson. He was needed by the emeralds. Looking up at Julie-Su, he nodded shortly, "Be careful. It might be one of Robotnik's stooges."

Julie-Su gave Knuckles a cheeky grin and a thumbs-up before heading off towards the edge of the island.

**XXX**

He had known that she would one day recognize him. Ever since he had clapped eyes on her, he had known they would most certainly meet. But he did not expect all these complicated emotions roaming around inside of him at such a fast rate. It was almost maddening for someone as young as him.

His eyes watched her intently as Sally introduced her to everyone. She merely stood there, with an almost cool head, raising a hand to everyone. She even looked almost bored.

'_How can she make it look so easy?' _the two-tailed fox queried to himself. He remembered very well what his reaction was to being introduced to Brain Trust. He had stood there, shyly, giving everyone tiny little waves. It certainly hadn't been easy.

"And this is Tails."

The fox broke out of his thoughts, and glanced up timidly at the taller vixen, who was clearly now being introduced to the members of Brain Trust separately. She was hot red in fur colour, and her eyes shone an excellent sapphire blue. A smile crossed her teenage face as she looked at him, almost softening.

"We've met before," she said softly, clearly remembering the events of breakfast, "You waved at me."

Tails blushed furiously, almost wishing he would sink through the floor and disappear from the world. He had never felt more embarrassed. He gulped out, "Yeah…"

Soon enough Sally led her away to introduce her to the rest of the Trust, to which Tails tried to slow his intense heart rate down. He had honestly never known that girls had that effect on males. He knew Sonic had the tendency to show off sometimes in front of Sally, possibly because of his relationship with her. But he never knew it applied to all males, even the ones that didn't live up to certain expectations, which Sonic seemed to meet without fail.

He certainly could never live up to those expectations. A feeling of hollowness swept through the young fox's body as he realized the chances of winning Fiona Fox's heart were minimum for she would most likely see a child begging for attention instead of a blossoming young man looking for love.

But there wasn't any harm in trying though…


End file.
